The Project on National Security Reform shares its legacy

The Project on National Security Reform ceased operations on December 31, 2011. This website records PNSR's history and work.

The transpartisan Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) was established in 2006 to assist the nation in an urgently needed transformation of the national security system. It was a single focus think tank dedicated to modernizing the currently antiquated national security system for 21st century challenges. PNSR envisioned a collaborative, agile, and innovative syste capable of integrating all elements of national power - both vertically and horizontally - and successfully addressing security challenges based on timely, informed decisions and decisive action.

To advance its agenda, PNSR developed a broad and diverse network of public and private partners and participants with expertise and experience in traditional and nontraditional security threats and opportunities. The first phase of PNSR’s work focused on identifying problems and formulating recommendations. Subsequently, it focused on developing tools for implementation and applying its holistic principles for long-term reform to many of today’s problems. This second phase provided a deeper understanding of the intellectual and political challenges of system transformation.

The project was led by James R. Locher III, a principal architect of the Goldwater-Nichols Act that modernized the joint military system. PNSR’s Guiding Coalition, comprised of distinguished Americans with extensive service in the public and private sectors, set strategic direction for the project. A dedicated staff that included national security veterans, as well as the brightest and best new talent, worked tirelessly on its critical mission. Although the political environment was not right to implement large-scale change, PNSR had a variety of incremental successes and significantly influenced the prevailing narrative on national security reform.

David Chu, President, IDA; former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

James Dobbins, Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, RAND; former Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Special Assistant to the President, Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State for the Balkans, and Ambassador to the European Community

Cathy Downes,Professor of Information Management, I-College, National Defense University

William Eggers, Global Director for Deloitte Research and Executive Director of Deloitte’s Public Leadership Institute; former Director of Government Reform at the Reason Public Policy Institute

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, President of LEG Inc.; Former Director, Weapons of Mass Destruction Preparedness, National Security Council

Anne Khademian, Program Director, Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech for National Intelligence

Larry Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; adjunct professor at Georgetown University Center; former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations, and Logistics

John M. “Mike” McConnell, Senior Vice President, Booz Allen; former Director of National Intelligence; former Director of the National Security Agency

Hannah Sistare President & CEO, Policy Implementation Consulting; former Vice President Academy Affairs, National Academy of Public Administration; former Executive Director National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission) at The Brookings Institution